Chapter 93 The Interrogation
Over a week later, Evernya awoke to a familiar slow beeping sound of an EKG. She attempted to shift her body but found her wrists affixed to her waist, with fifteen centimeters of play on each wrist. After a few half-awake tugs, Evernya’s eyes sprung open in panic. She shot up to a seated position, frantically investigating her predicament. Evernya found her wrists shackled to her waist with silver cuffs and chains, and her ankles hobbled with silver cuffs and a short forty cm length of chain. Along with the restraints, a bright orange suit similar to her training suit minus the computer hugged every inch of her body from her neck down.
In a frenzy, Evernya struggled against her restraints, but they held firm. After several minutes of struggling, Evernya’s panic calmed as she realized she still had full access to her magic. She examined her restraints for any way to unlock them, but found no holes, renewing her panic. As the futility of her situation sunk in, she curled up in the fetal position the best she could and stroked her tail awkwardly, as her hands could barely reach each other.
After a few minutes of the calming motion of stroking her tail, she reined her emotions in enough to think. Why do I always end up in situations like this? How did I even get here? The last I remember, I was at the auction house trying to free the kitsune. Wait, didn’t that asshole say he was going to have me arrested for assault if the compatibility test failed? That doesn’t make sense. I remember his disownment. What happened to me? I remember a warm calming sensation removing all the pain, then nothing.
Several minutes of fruitless thoughts later, Evernya gave up, deciding to investigate her surroundings instead. She found herself in a small three meter by three meter cell-like room with concrete walls on three sides and a glass wall facing a hallway. The cell was devoid of furnishings besides a wall-mounted screen next to her small cot monitoring her vital readings.
She froze when she spotted her mate in a similar cell, lying on a cot, unconscious. Driven by a need to protect her mate, she crawled off her cot and hobbled toward the see-through wall of her cell. She pushed her palm against the glass wall to test its strength, but as soon as her hand made contact, a powerful electric current ran through her body, seizing her muscles. Unable to control her body, Evernya dropped to the floor in a convulsing pile.
After a few minutes, she regained control of her body, allowing her to struggle to her feet, impeded by the limited range of motion allowed by her restraints. In a fit of rage, she launched a large blast of force at the wall, but the wall absorbed her magic as if nothing happened. Overcome by helplessness and anger, her telekinesis went haywire, bombarding the room. However, no matter how much she attacked the room, the walls remained unscathed. Lightheaded and panting, Evernya collapsed to the floor with tears in her eyes. Helpless to do anything, she laid motionless on the hard concrete floor fetal, staring blankly through the clear wall for hours.
“Prisoner S435, sit on the cot!” a gruff voice ordered, breaking Evernya out of her stupor. She glanced up to find two large human men standing on the opposite side of the transparent wall.
“Now!” the man on the right ordered.
Scared of what would happen if she refused, she awkwardly stumbled to her feet and hobbled to the cot. As soon as she did, the man on the left holding a small tablet pressed something, causing a familiar feeling of her mana sealing away.
As more of her mana became sealed, she felt increasingly weaker, much weaker than she should feel. By the time her mana dropped to grade 1, her senses dulled to where her surroundings became blurry and sounds felt distant. She could vaguely hear the men shout something, but couldn’t decipher what. Suddenly she felt a painful shock assault her body before a louder shout by one of the men vaguely sounding like stand up. Scared of getting shocked again, she attempted to stand up, but her legs gave out, causing her to fall to the floor. With her wrists affixed to her waist, she couldn’t protect herself as she landed hard on her shoulder. Unable to move, she lied on the floor as the men continued to yell and shock her.
Finally, after almost five minutes, they seemed to realize she couldn’t stand on her own. She vaguely heard the transparent wall lift open, but she continued to lie on the floor, exhausted and in pain. She felt herself being roughly picked up by big course hands. Her senses faded as she felt herself being carried out of her cell.
She must have blacked out at some point because the next time she became aware, she found herself attached to a chair at the chest, waist, thighs, and ankles with silver bands. Even if she had the energy, she could move nothing but her head and the fifteen centimeters allowed by her cuffs.
Soon she fell unconscious again for an unknown amount of time, again awoken by a door closing. By this time, she couldn’t even have the energy to lift her head to see who entered. A distant voice tried to talk to her, but her dulled senses failed to make out the words. Someone lifted her chin, allowing her to view a blurry, vaguely human-shaped silhouette in front of her. The voice spoke again, much louder this time, allowing her muddled senses to decipher the voice wanted to know what was wrong. She tried to respond, but her mouth wouldn’t want to work right, resulting in a garbled mess. She felt wherever held her chin vanish, causing her head to slump forward once more as she lost consciousness again.
When she next awoke, she found her mana unsealed, allowing her to function again. She scanned her new surroundings. The room looked like an interrogation room she saw in crime dramas on Earth, with a metal table in the center of the room with chairs on each side. The room itself was a small square room with a large mirror to her left and a door to the right. Like in the tv shows, she assumed the mirror was really a one-way window with people watching her. She tested the silver restraints holding her to the chair metal chair bolted to the floor but found zero give anywhere, forcing her to give up and wait.
A few minutes later, the door to her right opened, and a serious-looking woman who appeared to be in her thirties entered the room. She was wearing a navy blue suit paired with her brown hair pulled back into a tight bun carrying bag matching her suit. She sat down on a chair opposite Evernya and pulled out a folder from her bag, then proceeded to read it for a few minutes, ignoring Evernya.
Wonderful, the cliché no-nonsense interrogator. All I’m missing is the good cop to trick me into spilling my guts. Evernya sarcastically thought as she tried to keep a straight face to obscure the panic brimming under the surface.
Fifteen minutes later, the woman finally spoke. “My name is Detective Walker. I will conduct your interview this morning.”
“I would hardly call this an interview. Were the restraints necessary?” Evernya snapped back, her anger and nerves getting the better of her.
Detective Walker showed no reaction as she replied, “Standard policy for interviewing shifters. We usually seal interviewees’ mana as well, but it made you unresponsive. However, do not try to use your magic, or I will administer a powerful current of electricity.”
“I figured that would be the case you people seem to love to shock me.” Evernya sassed
Detective Walker ignored her comment as she continued, “You are being charged with unauthorized removal of shifter collar, falsifying identification, and having an unregistered bloodline without a collar. Do you contest these charges?”
Evernya stared at Detective Walker in confusion as she said. “Yes, I have no idea what these charges are from nor how I got here.”
“Then, we shall proceed with the interview.” Detective Walker announced.
She casted magic by mumbling under her breath so quietly Evernya could barely hear it. At the conclusion of the spell, Evernya felt a familiar sensation of a truth spell trying to force itself into her mind. Without her even trying, the truth spell failed to take hold, being much weaker than Arthur’s spell.
“Interesting. Your file does not lie. You have strong mental defenses even for a psion.” Detective Walker commented as she dug in her bag.
She pulled out a harnesslike device with many small circular metal electrodes attached to some straps. Detective Walker stood from her chair and clacked on the concrete floor around the table toward the immobilized shifter. When she arrived next to her target, Detective Walker warned, “Do not resist. Otherwise, I will shock you.”
Thoroughly immobilized, all Evernya could do was wait as detective Walker strapped the device to her head. The six straps with electrodes fastened around her head, with two placed along each side and two going over the top between her ears. Then non-electrode straps ran under her chin and around her neck. Detective Walker pulled all straps as taunt as possible, squeezing the electrodes tightly against her skull. She heard multiple clicking sounds as the straps lock tight. Evernya tested the harness by moving her head from side to side and opening and closing her mouth. She found the harness didn’t impede the movement of her head nor talking but felt uncomfortably snug.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
After satisfied with the fit, Detective Walker returned to her seat and casted another truth spell. This time, Evernya panicked as the spell cut through her defenses like they were nothing. She watched in horror as she was helpless to stop the truth spell as it worked its way deeper until it fully took hold. After the spell took hold, an almost overwhelming urge to answer any question truthfully asked of her descended on her mind. She struggled with all her might to break its hold, but could only pick away tiny pieces of the spell encircling her mind.
Detective Walker nodded in satisfaction as she stated, “That’s better. You have impressive mental defenses, but this marvelous device can overcome even an Arisen stage unsealed Psion.”
As a baseline, Detective Walker asked, “What is your name?”
“Evernya Draorxia,” Evernya answered immediately against her will.
When did my family name become Draorxia? It feels natural, yet I know I didn’t have a family name at the auction house. Did my bloodline unlock? Evernya’s thought triggered a flood of information about her bloodline into her mind, but she blocked it out, for now, to deal with more pressing matters.
“Isn’t this against my rights? You are forcing answers against my will.” Evernya argued.
“No, if I were to try to take over your mind, it would be, but forcing someone to answer truthfully is not against the law.” Detective Walker replied.
With a tinge of fear in her voice, Evernya continued to argue, “Still, don’t I get a lawyer or representative?”
“No, only those under aged may have a relative present.” Detective Walker denied with growing impatience.
Now in a full-blown panic, Evernya squeaked, “How is that fair? You could ask me anything, even information unrelated to these bogus charges.”
Detective Walker kept a professional neutral expression despite her growing annoyance, as she explained. “No, I cannot. To earn the right to conduct interviews, we must have a brand placed preventing us from asking questions unrelated to the case. Beyond basic information such as your name or age during an interview, my spell will not force you to answer. You can even have my brand publicity tested if you dispute my final ruling on your charges.”
Detective Walker’s explanation caused Evernya to relax for a moment until she remembered the falsifying identification charge. She renewed her effort at picking away at the truth spell, hoping she could gain enough ground before those questions came up.
“If that’s all, I will continue.” Detective Walker announced to the shifter busy working on breaking the spell.
“Why were you rendered unresponsive after your mana sealing despite no mention in your medical file about the condition?” Detective Walker inquired.
Evernya felt an odd sensation of not being forced to tell the truth, but instead a desire to answer truthfully. “Interesting, so that question has relation to one of your charges, albeit loosely.” Detective Walker commented.
“How long was I unconscious?” Evernya inquired
“I will be the one asking the questions from now on.” Detective Walker snapped.
“Jeez, no need to be rude. My question relates to your question,” Evernya grumbled.
Without apologizing, Detective Walker replied, “Approximately nine days.”
Extra motivated by the truth spell despite not being a direct question, Evernya explained while trying to keep the answer as truthful as possible. “Well, I have a condition where I need to eat mana rich food regularly, or my body breaks down. As long as I have access to my mana like now, I can still function without food for a time. It was not on my medical file because we found out I had this condition after my last hospital stay.”
After noting something down in the folder, Detective Walker asked, “Why didn’t you find out about this condition until then?”
Unaffected by the truth spell, Evernya questioned, “Aren’t we getting a bit off-topic?” After a pause, Evernya said, “To answer your question, we didn’t know before because I never had my mana sealed before then.”
Ignoring Evernya’s question, she continued asking questions, “Did you willingly remove your shifter collar?”
“I don’t know,” Evernya answered without delay from the truth spell.
“Do you know you know how you avoided triggering the shock enchantment during your collar’s removal?” Detective Walker inquired, digging deeper.
“No,” Evernya answered instantly.
Detective Walker’s neutral expression flashed confusion and surprise, prompting her to continue her questioning. “Do you know who can remove a shifter collar?”
“No,” Evernya replied instantly, unresisting to the truth spell as most of her attention worked to chip away at said spell.
In frustration, Detective Walker asked, “Did you remove the kitsune’s shifter collar?”
“No,” Evernya replied.
Evernya returned her attention to the so-called interview at the mention of her mate as she inquired, “Why did you call her a kitsune, not her name?”
“I told you no questions! I’ll only answer because it may pertain to your case. When someone becomes a slave, their name disappears from the magical system where all identity scans pull their information from replacing it with a number until their master gives them a new name or they regain their freedom. In her case, she is now part of your bloodline, so she has taken on the Draorxia name, but she has not provided a first name yet.”
Against Detective Walker’s order, Evernya continued to prod for answers. “Why is she being detained? She couldn’t have done anything with her enslavement.”
Detective Walker ignored the question as she reached into her bag and pulled out a familiar tablet. She pressed the tablet screen, engulfing the immobilized shifter in electric induced pain. The shock only lasted for a second, but it was enough to leave Evernya panting.
“That was your final warning. The next time I won’t be so nice.” Detective Walker warned, leaving the tablet on the table in full view of her interviewee.
Evernya glared at the Detective with a brightly glowing eyes full of fury but kept her mouth shut.
Detective Walker stared at her interviewee with curiosity, upon noticing something eliciting a comment, “How interesting. I can’t believe I didn’t notice until now. You emit no mana as if you are a dead zone. No wonder you could get away with falsifying your mana grade.”
Evernya’s angry stare earned to confusion, but she kept her mouth shut. Detective Walker smiled, enjoying her interviewee’s fear of talking as she inquired, “Oh, you don’t understand? What are you confused about?”
With fear-induced hesitation, Evernya tentatively replied, “Falsifying my mana grade. I understand the shifter collar charge, even though I don’t know how. The falsifying identification charge is so vague I do not understand what that’s supposed to mean.”
“It means your ID has missing or wrong information that, by law, must be present. Your mana grade, for example, is so far off the mark that we consider it wrong information. However, that is not the only discrepancy on your ID.” Detective Walker replied before asking a direct question, “Did you knowingly falsify your mana grade?”
Against her will, the answer instantly ripped its way out of her mouth, “No, but I knew it was out of date.”
“Explain.” Detective Walker ordered.
With growing anger and self-loathing, Evernya again answered against her will, “My mana grade at the time of my private magic test was accurate but had multiple significant progresses since then.” With the answer out, Evernya regained the control of her voice, asking while trying to keep her rage out of her voice, “If you don’t mind me asking, what is my current mana grade? I know I hit grade 6 about two weeks ago.”
This time it was Detective Walker’s turn to look confused as she inquired, “What do you mean you gained nearly one mana grade in less than a month?” For a second, the Detective lost her composure from the shock but quickly recovered, ordering, “Explain your advances in mana grade.”
“I don’t know what caused my progress, but we suspect it had to do with my bloodline.” Evernya replied instantly against her will before commenting in a sassy tone, “Since you refuse to tell me what my current mana grade is, I can’t give a complete answer.”
“6.53.” Detective Walker interrupted.
With a surprised expression, Evernya exclaimed, “Wow, that is a big jump! I can see why that seems like I faked it. About two weeks ago, during one of my typical training sessions, I had an unusual experience, losing a few hours. Meira thinks I temporarily unlocked my bloodline and cultivated, which I had no idea I had until then. This event pushed me over the edge to grade 6, but I don’t know how it jumped to 6.53. Maybe it jumped to that after the cultivation period because I didn’t have my grade tested. Meira just said I reached grade 6. I didn’t even know I unlocked my bloodline fully until you asked me my name.”
“So you didn’t falsify your mana grade? It was just out of date?” Detective Walker asked to confirm.
“Yes,” Evernya answered instantly.
“Unlocking a bloodline could explain the sudden jump. Some people gain a significant boost to their mana grade when they gain a bloodline.” Detective Walker revealed as if it was obvious before moving on.
“Why did you say I falsified my mana grade then?” Evernya asked, annoyed, momentarily forgetting about the threat of electric shock.
With her hand resting on the tablet as a warning, Detective Walker asked, “Did you knowingly falsify your race?”
Evernya fought the compulsion with all her might, causing a delay, the detective noted in her folder. “Could you be more specific?” Evernya forced out, trying to keep her voice even while fighting the compulsion
“Did you knowingly hide the fact you are part kitsune?” The Detective clarified, having seemingly bought Evernya’s delay as confusion.
“No, I did not know I was part kitsune,” Evernya replied, trying to keep the relief off of her face. If it wasn’t for her current bondage, her tail stuck around her waist would wave happily, giving her away.
“Did you have your race tested at your private Magic test?” Detective Walker inquired with growing confusion from the truthful responses.
This time Evernya didn’t even try to resist the truth spell as it forced her to answer, “Yes.”
“Was Kitsune one result.” Detective Walker questioned further.
“No,” Evernya replied.
“Hmm, interesting, the reading was very faint, maybe less than one percent, but I know DIOM has very accurate testing equipment. I suppose your response matches up with what the others said despite the improbability of it.” Detective Walker commented.
“Others?” Evernya inquired, but Detective ignored her while moving on.
“Did you knowingly falsify your Psionic abilities?” Detective asked after glancing down at her folder for a moment.
“No,” Evernya answered instantly, with a confused expression.
Past the point of surprise, Detective Walker continued, “As far as we can tell, you are a T3 Psion, but your teleportation gave us some discrepancies, as if something were missing. Do you know the reason for this?”
Evernya’s mind pulled up a section of information from her bloodline as she answered, “My bloodline seems to give me a spatial related ability, but I have not explored it yet.”
Detective Walker nodded as if she expected the answer as she said, “Bloodline related abilities do not show up on our tests. Legally, I cannot ask specifics on your bloodline. However, you will need to provide its type when you register it.”
Detective Walker spent a few minutes writing in her folder before getting up and leaving the room without saying another word to Evernya.